Bob Brown protest charge dropped

May 27, 2016
Issue 
Bob Brown was arrested in January for standing in the way of bulldozers primed to clear forest at Lapoinya, in north west Tasman

Tasmanian Police have discontinued their prosecution of former Greens leader Bob Brown, who was arrested earlier this year under controversial anti-protest laws which he went on to challenge in the High Court.

Brown was arrested in January for standing in the way of bulldozers primed to clear forest at Lapoinya, in north west Tasmania.

He was one of the first to be charged under the Workplaces (Protection from Protestors) Act 2014.

The law is part of a controversial series of legislation, which aims at deterring protests that interrupt businesses' activities.

The decision to drop the charges is due to a technicality, but others who were arrested at Lapoinya face a less certain fate.

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